Old Friends
by Bounty Hunter Darcy
Summary: Naruto comes to a sudden realization after he finally blooms into full demon hood.
1. Chapter 1

Old Friends

Old Friends

I look out my window and sigh when I see no stars in the sky tonight. It seemed as if every night that he wasn't here made the sky dark and desolate. Only the sickly yellow moon hung directly above me, showing me what time it was without having to look at my clock. Midnight. I missed my best friend terribly, but it seemed that he didn't miss me in the least.

Then again, I wouldn't miss me either. I try to blink back tears, but they fall anyway; sliding down my cheeks and onto my long, white pajama shirt. We were starting school in a few days and my friend hadn't returned. It was a special time in my life; I was starting my first year at Darkwraith School for Demons. For a long time, my guardian thought that I wouldn't make it into the prestigious demon school.

You see, most demons are born with unusual features. Most have fangs and claws, animal ears and tails. Some even have wings or antennae or talons. But, I was born with none of those things. I looked 100 human. The only odd thing about me was the three whisker marks that adorned each cheek. We don't even know what kind of demon I am.

My best friend, Sasuke Uchiha is a Wolf demon. He comes from a very wealthy family who are all descended from the most powerful Wolf demon lords. He was the friend that was gone. He and his family had gone on vacation to the Demonic Lands, a dangerous place to be if you weren't a demon, and still hadn't gotten back.

Now that I think about it, Sasuke and I have been friends since we were pups. He was there for me when my father died in battle against the Rogues, a nasty breed of hybrid demons who haunt the human world, sucking the life out of humans, and then devouring their hearts. The very thought of these creatures running rampant in the human world made me shudder. My mother had died in childbirth, so now I was living with my godfather, Jiraiya.

The last six months have been rough, because Sasuke's family didn't like him hanging around me as often as he was. So, I haven't had any word from Sasuke in a month and I'm starting to feel the beginnings of longing pains. At least, that's what I call them. I lie down on my bed and close my eyes, trying not to think of the next time I might see Sasuke.

The next morning

My guardian, at the break of dawn, shook me awake. I rolled over onto my left side and tried to ignore him, but he was very persistent.

"C'mon! I need your help with my research!"

"Do it yourself, I'm not helping you."

I pulled the blanket up over my head and tried to go back to sleep but the old man pulled the whole blanket off me. I sat up, plainly irritated just to see his happy face. I normally liked seeing him happy because it meant he had made a lot of money off his newest book. But today, the look of his happy face just angered me.

"C'mon kid! We need to get going or we'll be late!"

I looked at the clock and saw that it was 5:30 a.m.

"The hot springs don't open up until 10:00! Why are you waking me up now?"

Jiraiya seemed to consider this then said,

"I only said that to get you up. In reality, we have to go to the hospital to get your blood drawn. That'll tell us what kind of demon you are."

I grumbled about 'hyperactive lechers' but got up anyway.

"Good sport! See you downstairs in half an hour."

With a jovial wave, Jiraiya left the room and slammed the door behind him. I groaned and went to my drawer to pick out my clothes. I pulled out my usual black t-shirt and orange pants along with my favorite green boxers that had little ramen cups on them. Hey, what can I say? I like ramen! And orange...for some unfathomable reason.

I took them into the bathroom and grabbed a towel out of the old green locker. I set my things on the sink and turned on the water. It heated up to just the perfect temperature and I stepped in, closing the shower door behind me. I washed up relatively quickly but took my time washing my hair. I looked at the bottle and saw the Uchiha fan on it.

I always used this bottle...even though the original shampoo ran out almost a year ago. It was a gift from Sasuke on my 10th birthday. He knew how much I prided myself on my hair, so he persuaded his mother to give him an extra bottle of his specially made shampoo (his mother was the head of a beauty salon and made her own shampoo for the family). When it was empty, I bought a new bottle of regular shampoo and just kept refilling this bottle with the other shampoo.

My spirits, aside from being sufficiently lowered at being woken up at 5:30, went considerably lower. I don't know how long I stared at the bottle before I actually washed my hair and got out, but it must have been a while because Jiraiya was tapping his right index finger impatiently on the table when I finally got downstairs.

"About time! Do you want to find out what kind of demon you are or not?"

"You said that my father was a fox demon, so why are you complaining? Just tell the school principal that I'm a fox demon."

"Right. A fox demon that has no ears, claws, fangs..."

I glared at him.

"Fine! A late blooming fox demon!"

Jiraiya smiled knowingly as I sat down in a huff and wolfed down my breakfast. He knew that my demonic heritage (or my seemingly lack thereof) was always a touchy subject with me. That doesn't mean that he doesn't push that button every now and then.

After breakfast, he and I got into the car and headed down to the hospital. I sat there nervously in the waiting room while Jiraiya signed me in. I hated needles and any form of jabbing or poking with pointy objects. Don't get me wrong, I loved sparring and enjoyed nothing more than the satisfaction that came with a good beating...I just hated needles.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One: The (unexpected) results

Chapter One: The (unexpected) results.

Well, the results were surely unexpected. I sat back in my chair and looked at the ceiling. I was 100 pure kitsune. Now a kitsune, for all of you who don't know, is a _female_ fox. It sucks, doesn't it? Jiraiya looked at the doctor as if he had grown another head.

"But he can't be a kitsune...he's a boy!"

The doctor looked at us patiently and said,

"A male kitsune is rare but not uncommon when one's parents were both fox demons. What will happen when he turns 11 is that he'll grow a womb that connects itself with a hole just below the rectum. That, in turn, will make him able to reproduce but still maintain his essential, er, maleness."

I looked up at the crack in the ceiling and tried to tell myself that if I could just squeeze through there, then I'll be all right and all of this nonsense will have gone away; as if going into that crack could put me in an alternate universe where I would be a normal fox demon like my father.

"And what's the possibility of him passing this onto his children?" Jiraiya asked, having finally maintained that the doctor had not taken leave of his senses.

"If he delivers the baby then they will most certainly inherit this particular gene. If, however, he impregnates a woman and she has the baby, then there is only a minor chance of the baby inheriting the gene."

Jiraiya nodded and asked,

"And, will anything else form on him that I should know about?"

The doctor took off his glasses and said,

"Only if he gets pregnant. That will cause the breast tissue to swell with milk for the baby and will only recede after the baby is no longer feeding from him."

Now attempting to slip away into that crack...just slip...no, being pulled back...wait, no, must disappear!

"Okay, let's go kid."

I reluctantly follow him out of the office and sit next to him in the front of the car. My mind was still reeling from this...injustice. We stop at a restaurant and go inside to order. I sit at the booth and look despondently down at my boneless BBQ chicken wings. I have very little appetite, which is odd because I can usually go through about four or five buckets of these chicken wings in one sitting.

"Naruto?"

I look up at Jiraiya and see that he looks a little concerned.

"I know that you're concerned about your...results...but you shouldn't let it get to you. Like the doctor said, there are probably hundreds of male..."he looked around us before lowering his voice and saying, "kitsunes in the demon world."

"Yeah? Do you know any?"

Jiraiya shook his head and replied,

"But I do now. And you can honestly say that you're 100 percent fox demon. Proudly at that."

I nod glumly and say,

"If Sasuke doesn't hate me now, then he will when he finds out."

"If that Uchiha brat doesn't accept you for who you are, then he'll have lost a valuable friend. It's not your fault that you were born this way, so don't start burying yourself in angst and guilt."

I look up at my godfather and smile.

"You're right, old man."

"You're darn right I'm-hey! I ain't that old!"

I laugh as he continues to seethe about my comment and practically inhale my food. Not all of this might be so bad after all.


	3. Chapter 3

Old Friends

Old Friends

Chapter Three

Character Information

These are the main two characters but my absolute favorite character is going to be in this...Gaara-chan! Yay!

Uzumaki Naruto- He's not quite sure about what he is. Although his test results were very much unexpected and he's yet to see his best friend, he's trying to maintain a positive attitude.

Uchiha Sasuke- Not much is known about this character until his appearance in chapter four. Apparently, he has gone on vacation with his family in the Demon Planes and hasn't come back for a month.

Sabaku no Gaara- He's introduced in chapter three as a Sand Fox. His mother was a Sand Spirit and his father was a pure fox. He has a somewhat murderous aura and usually keeps everyone at arms' length.

Hyuuga Neji- He is introduced as a housemate of Uchiha Sasuke in chapter four who takes a 'special' interest in Naruto. Whether his intentions are true are a mystery even to Sasuke, who feels that he knows Neji best.

Momochi Haku- He is introduced as a cat demon that lives with his Uncle Zabuza. He is a housemate of Uzumaki Naruto and has a twin sister named Darcy. They are fraternal twins who look almost identical. He is more feminine looking (picture him in the anime).

Momochi Darcy- She is introduced as a cat demon who lives with her Uncle Zabuza and older brother Haku. She is the housemate of Uzumaki Naruto and looks more masculine than her brother (picture a young David Bowie but with a rack).

School Information

Darkwraith School for Demons is on the outskirts of the Demon Planes and is never visited by humans. The only way to get there is by the pitch-black train that crosses over into the Demon Realm about halfway through the trip.

You catch the 12 o'clock train from platform XIII. On the train, an old woman with floor length grey hair pushes a cart that carries various assortments of meat, fish, fungi, fruits, berries, and nectar.

Halfway to the school, an announcement comes onto the intercom for the students to change into their uniforms. The students may change earlier if they want to, but the first year students have to change at the announcement.

Uniforms

Boys:

Long black dress pants.

Button up t-shirt from April to June (Color depends on which of the two houses you get sorted into. When you get sorted, a little goblin brings up two weeks' worth of the properly colored shirt).

Sweater from September to March (Same as above).

Black (leather) boots that go up to mid-calf with at least a two inch heel.

Black jacket that only goes down to the mid-chest.

Girls:

Black skirt that reaches mid thigh.

Button up t-shirt from April to June (see: "Boys' uniform" for color).

Sweater from September to March (same as above).

Black knee high boots with a minimum of a two inch heel.

Black jacket that covers the bust only.


End file.
